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GetEqual's Shenanegans last week. |
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Check out the national LGBT leadership's townhall from last week:
http://www.signorile.com/2010/04/full-audio-path-forward-lgbt-leadership.html
On Monday, April 19, the new Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender "direct action," nonviolent civil disobedience organization--Get Equal--popped up at a Barbara Boxer fundraiser where President Obama was speaking, and disrupted his speech to demand action on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Activists David John Fleck, Dan Fotou, Laura Kanter, Zoe Nicholson and Michelle Wright paid their way into the event and then repeatedly shouted at Obama about repealing DADT as he tried to address the gathering.
According to Rex Wockner:
"We are going to do that. Hey! Hold on a second! Hold on a second! We are going to do that!" Obama responded. "All right. Guys. Guys. All right. I agree. I agree. I agree. ... What the young man was talking about was we need to -- we need to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which I agree with and which we have begun to do. But let me say this: When you've got an ally like Barbara Boxer and you've got an ally like me who are standing for the same thing, then you don't know exactly why you've got to holler, because we already hear you, all right? I mean, it would make more sense to holler that at the people who oppose it."
A few moments later, more shouting ensued.
"I'm sorry, do you want to come up here?" Obama said directly to a protester. "Can I just say once again, Barbara and I are supportive of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, so I don't know why you're hollerin'."
Obama then stepped away from the microphone and spoke with Boxer. He returned to the mic and stated: "I just checked with Barbara, so if anybody else is thinking about starting a chant, Barbara didn't even vote for Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the first place, so you know she's going to be in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
The protesters were eventually removed from the room.
The President handled himself well, but certainly he was a bit rattled. Many in community leadership criticized the move citing Barbara Boxer's support for LGBT issues in the past, as well as the President's inability to legislate a full repeal.
On Tuesday, April 20, LGBT people around the nation woke up to images of Lt. Dan Choi and Cpt. Jim Pietrangelo once again chained the the White House fence. This time they were joined by four other veterans: Petty Officer Larry Whitt, Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen, Cadet Mara Boyd, and Cpl. Evelyn Thomas.
Phil Reese - April 26, 2010--The Parks Service removed the media that had gathered across the street at Lafayette Park, angering many of the reporters, and leaving media coverage of the protests spotty. Still, Dan was able to make a statement during the ordeal.
We learned on Thursday that the GetEqual DADT six had their hearings scheduled, were released late Wednesday and paid their feeds.
Finally, Wednesday, April 21, over at Feast of Fun, I broke the story that Robin McGehee, Mark Reed, Kelsey Phipps, Natasha Dillon, Alan Bounville, Sergio Llanos and Ali Lozano interrupted the House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee demanding a mark-up on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which the committee is responsible for handling and moving to a floor vote.
McGehee handed a marker to Chair Chair Mitchell and demanded movement on the bill the LGBT community has been eagerly awaiting for thirty years.
Finally, Thursday Robin McGehee demanded HRC President Joe Solmonese step down at the Michelangelo Signorile LGBT leadership town hall. |
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Dan Choi and Get Equal walk the walk. |
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Phil Reese April 12, 2010--To follow up on my latest Out & About Illinois Politics column "Getting Arrested For Your Rights," I wanted to share some video with you.
First Rick Sanchez covering Lt. Choi and Capt. Pietrangelo's arrest at the White House gate:
(Check it out here, embed is broken)
At the end of the video, Rick is showing a screen capture of Dan's tweets featuring Get Equal's website where you can learn more about the issues facing LGBT Americans.
I do think that Get Equal needs to make the website a little more dynamic and update the content daily, but I totally believe in Get Equal's mission of full Federal equality in all 50 states, and their belief in national grassroots efforts and direct action to get it done. This is old fashioned, old school activism.
Lt. Choi elaborated on the basics of civil disobedience after his post-arrest hearing:
(Check it out here, embed is broken)
Its not a matter of just going out and getting arrested. Its a matter of doing so strategically--participating in acts of civil disobedience when it will truly matter, when the world is watching, when Congress is watching--when you will make a strong statement.
One Illinoisan who understands this is openly lesbian lawmaker, Chicago's Deb Mell. I interviewed Assemblywoman Deb Mell in February and we talked a little bit about her arrest in 2004 protesting marriage inequality at the Cook County Clerk's office.
"Actually, I got arrested for storming into the street." said Representative Mell with a laugh when I asked her about it, "It was a marriage protest--we did a sit-in a couple weeks later--I don't want you to think I got arrested for getting a marriage license; I wasn't even dating anyone at the time. Now I would definitely. Now I have a partner"
Mell understands putting it all on the line for something that you can believe in. But you have to do it smartly. If you just showed up to the County Clerk's office and made a ruckus with no context, you wouldn't be moving the cause forward at all. It needs to be well thought out and strategic.
There are some things that you can do right now, however, to make a statement. If you haven't filled out your Census form yet, visit Queer The Census' page to find out how you can demand to be counted.
In addition, get involved locally to learn about letter-writing campaigns, in-district lobbying, and phone banking for equality. Want to know more? Feel free to email me:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
and ask me how you can get involved where you are. I'll be happy to tell you!
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Turn It Up will turn it out! |
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Phil Reese 4/6/2010--This Thursday at 7pm at the Champaign-Urbana Independent Media Center, get ready to be blown away by the first major local concert event of the season.
The UnitingPride Center of Champaign County--the brand new LGBTQA Community Center initiative--is presenting Turn It Up April 8th at 7pm at 202 S. Broadway, in Urbana.
View Larger Map
Its the old Post Office, Y'all, you can't miss it!
Ticket and refreshment sales will benefit the UP Center for securing a space and generating new programs vital for our youth and underserved populations. If you don't go, you're a meanie.
Bands will include local sensations Vanattica and Tom Miebach performing several sets throughout the night.
In between our musical acts will be sensational spoken-word artists Anna Schweig and Cara Bailey.
They'll have your funny-bone covered too. Comedy Improv group The Abe Froman Project will be providing some chuckles throughout the night.
But be ready to have your breath taken away by the Mistress of Ceremonies. Bringing it all together on Thursday night, is the beautiful, stunning and absolutely divine Miss Leiloni Stars of the LA Girls. You know she'll be on point!
Tickets are $5 in advance at the sale page and $10 at the door. $8 for students, but why wouldn't you just get them in advance anyway? I mean its only $5. We're going to entertain you all night. There's refreshments. Why haven't you clicked the link yet? What's wrong with you?
Full disclosure: I'm one of the founding board members of the Uniting Pride Center of Champaign County, and I'm going to be sweating profusely backstage assisting our performers. Even though I'm biased, I still think you should go because I'm on this board because I believe in this cause--especially the work with youth and with uniting the whole LGBTQA community of our county.
Please come join us, and do some good! How often can you have an awesome time while doing some good?
(Crossposted at Out And About Magazine Phil Reese's Blog & the217.com Reese's Pieces Blog.)
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What's wrong with BIll Brady? |
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PLEASE READ THIS MONTH'S POLITICS COLUMN: "THE DISASTER OF BILL BRADY."
PHIL REESE, MARCH 8, 2010: Have you heard of Senate Bill 3447? Well, if you haven't, you should have. **The Bill seems to have gone quiet now after being referred back to the Committee on Assignments,** but had it passed out of the Judiciary committee, you might have lost your job. The bill, which was initially submitted by Senator Bill Brady--who hates us--would have expanded the "Religious Exemption" to the Human Rights Law that protects people from getting fired based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The "Religious Exemption" would suddenly apply to almost every employer imaginable, rendering the employment non-discrimination law virtually useless.
**UPDATE: I ELABORATE FURTHER ON THE PROBLEMS WITH THE SB3447 BILL IN MY LATEST BILERICO.COM BLOG, CHECK IT OUT...
The hubub that erupted when bloggers from around the state--including myself--caught wind of the bill swiftly put it to bed. The Judicial committee chair who had planned to give the bill a hearing when he thought the lead sponsor was still Bill Brady, swiftly re-referred the bill to the Assignments Committee when he learned the sponsor had changed to John O. Jones. The bill isn't exactly dead, but its not going anywhere for now.
In short, Bill Brady is a shady shady, sneaky, evil man.
According to Senator Michael Frerichs, from the 42nd District, Bill Brady is one of the biggest obstacles to equality and progress, and has been for years.
"I can not think of any examples in my three years in the State Senate when Senator Brady extended a hand across the aisle," Frerichs said in an emailed statement.
"This is particularly striking," continued Frerichs, "because for my first two years, due to the super-majority that the Democrats enjoyed and the limited number of seats on the left side of the chamber, I sat on the Republican side of the aisle. I developed many working relationships with Republicans because of my proximity, but Senator Brady was never one of the Republicans to work with or socialize with Democrats."
On the subject of Brady's plan to solve the state's problems by creating term limits, again, Frerichs is skeptical.
"I find it interesting that someone who has served in Springfield for nearly 20 years would advocate for term limits. If Senator Brady truly believed that serving more than 8 years was a problem, then he should have resigned long ago."
Frerichs continued, "As for contribution limits, Democrats passed a bill last year limiting campaign contributions for the first time ever in the state of Illinois and Senator Brady voted against it."
After this, as well as the drama around SB3447, how can we possibly trust a man like Bill Brady to lead our state. A flip-flopper and political maneuver-er who uses people like you and I as pawns in a game for political points, is not someone that the state can afford to have, drunk with power, in our highest office.
PLEASE READ THIS MONTH'S POLITICS COLUMN: "THE DISASTER OF BILL BRADY." |
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